Late Night Lullabies
by Steamed.Artichoke.43
Summary: Despite her tiredness, Shelby smiled as she approached the crib. She took the shuddering child into her arms and caressed her soft curls as the little girl buried her face into her mother's neck. "It's okay Baby," Shelby cooed, "Mommy's here." A/U


_Sammi here. I snagged this one from Kam's WIP pile and decided to tweak it a little more to my liking, with her blessing of course :) Enjoy!_

**Disclaimer: I own nothing. If I did, the Shelby/Rachel fallout would not have happened...**

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**Late Night Lullabies**

Within moments of entering her room, Shelby collapsed onto her bed. Her less than graceful descent, onto several pillows and a fluffy down comforter, excused only due to the fact she'd spent the entire day functioning on no more than three hours of sleep and possibly more than her weight in coffee. She had just settled into unconsciousness where the presentation of her dream Tony award awaited her, when she was brought back to the land of the living by a familiar sound. Her head remained hidden underneath the blanket as her hand blindly sought out her side table. Grabbing hold of the offensive object, she pulled it into her cocoon and glared at it. The sounds it was currently emitting causing her to groan in frustration. She shut it off, before slowly making her way out of her room and across the hall.

In the few strides it took to get to the next room, Shelby had pulled her hair back into a messy ponytail and managed to look more awake than she currently felt. She decided to forgo turning on the overhead light and instead allowed her eyes to adjust to the darkness that was illuminated only by a small nightlight in the corner of the room and the intermittent flashes of lightening provided by the ongoing storm outside. She remained in the doorway and peered in at the tiny occupant that had roused her from her warm haven.

Said occupant was currently seated and whimpering in a corner of her crib, her cries having subsided upon Shelby's arrival. The toddler had not meant to wake her mother, but the raging storm outside had been more than her various plush toys and blankie could protect her from. At the sight of her mother, she stood up in her crib, a tight grip on the railing and a pleading look on her innocent face. "Mommy?"

Despite her tiredness, Shelby smiled as she approached the crib. She took the shuddering child into her arms and caressed her soft curls as the little girl buried her face into her mother's neck. "It's okay Baby," Shelby cooed, "Mommy's here." Her heart broke slightly as she felt a flow of tears dampening the collar of her T-shirt and the little girl burrow even closer into her body the instant a crash of thunder sounded outside. Pacing along the room with her daughter clutched tightly to her, Shelby alternated between calming circles to her back and whispering soothing words, in addition to a few well placed kisses to the temple for good measure.

Twenty minutes into the routine, Shelby realized that not only was her daughter not asleep, but she was beginning to cling even tighter to her. She sighed deeply as she balanced her options and tried to determine which would ensure they both got a decent night's rest. It took her only a moment to come to a decision and a second later she was acting on it. Shelby angled her head to try and garner her daughter's attention. "Sweetie?" Her daughter mumbled a response that rumbled through Shelby's shoulder and neck, acknowledging she was listening. "You wanna sleep with Mommy tonight?" Her simple question caused her toddler to pull back out of her mother's neck before nodding back ardently.

Shelby smiled once more before returning to her bedroom with toddler in tow. Placing her daughter into the centre and erecting sufficient pillow borders to ensure she would remain there, Shelby settled down and turned to her side to face the little girl. Leaning up on her forearm, she reached over to tap the little girl's nose playfully and chuckled softly when her baby giggled and attempted to do the same to her.

After having their fun for a few minutes, the little girl sighed and cuddled closer into her mother. "Mommy?"

"Yes babygirl?"

"Sing?" she asked. From the time she was born, music had always been present in her life. In the womb her mother had played all genres of music for her and as an infant Shelby had sung to her practically every day. It was so engrained in her that even simple humming from Shelby managed to calm her down from even her wildest of tantrums. As her mother gazed down at her, she added her biggest puppy dog eyes, a technique she'd realized got her mom to do just about anything she wanted. "Please?"

Once Shelby got caught up in her daughter's big, dark eyes she already knew she was a goner. She wasn't sure how or when her little girl had learned such manipulation, but she knew for sure that her daughter had certainly mastered it. "Sure, Sweetie," she answered as she ran a hand through her child's downy brunette curls. Mentally running through her repertoire, Shelby sought a song that would be appropriate for the situation. When a flash of lightening and then thunder sounded outside, her little girl began to whimper once more. Before the tears came cascading down her baby's cheeks however, Shelby gathered her to her chest and rolled to lay on her back with the little girl cuddled to her chest. And then she began to sing.

_Baby mine, don't you cry  
Baby mine, dry your eyes  
Rest your head close to my heart  
Never to part, baby of mine  
Little one when you play  
Don't you mind what they say  
Let those eyes sparkle and shine  
Never a tear, baby of mine_

Shelby wasn't sure when the song had come to mind, but it surely seemed appropriate for the time being and it was certainly doing the job of calming the toddler down. As she began the second verse, she felt her daughter's muffled whimpers die down into sniffles.

_If they knew sweet little you  
They'd end up loving you too  
All those same people who scold you  
What they'd give just for  
The right to hold you  
From your head to your toes  
You're not much, goodness knows  
But you're so precious to me  
Cute as can be, baby of mine._

As she concluded the lullaby, Shelby bent her head and smiled at the sight. Her baby girl still had a loose grip on her T-shirt in one hand, while the other was thrown over and hanging off of Shelby's stomach. Placing one last kiss into her daughter's hair for the night, Shelby settled into her pillow to follow her daughter into dreamland. Just as she had drifted off, the little girl began to stir. She opened one eye and found the little girl was still asleep. Shelby shrugged it off and settled back into sleep.

"Love you, Mommy."

Shelby chuckled. Even in her sleep, her baby still managed to surprise her. "Love you, too, baby."

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_Song's not mine, obviously. Umm, yea not sure whats up with me and the music incorporation lately, guess it just seemed appropriate._

_Oh and who do you picture the baby to be? :) Purposely never mentioned any names because I'd like to leave it open for the Shelby/Rachel or the Shelby/Beth fans out there._

_Good? Bad? Rotten Tomatoes? or just ehh?  
__Till next time..._

_Sam & Kam Productions :)_


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